The Phoenix Rise are the defending Western Conference champions and it showed during their opening match against the Miami Surge. The Rise started strong winning the first four races to take an early 8-4 lead over the Surge.
That would change as the Men’s Echo races began. The veteran men on the Rise were unable to match the speed of the Surge’s Travis Williams, Nick Urankar and Marco Coppola on the power snatches in Quadrant 4. Both Race 5 and 6, the Surge made up ground on the snatches and pulled off the victories.
Only down two points heading into Race 7, Ladder, the Surge knew it would not be one of their strengths. The two points up for grabs from the total weight was not decided until Blaine McConnell’s last pull and a miscue by Miami’s Marisa de los Santos. De los Santos was Miami’s last athlete on the floor and sprinted to the finish line rather than attempt more deadlifts. The Rise pulled out the victory by lifting 25,545 pounds only 300 pounds more than the Surge.
The Surge fought back in the Men’s and Women’s Triads to chip away at the Rise’s lead. But down four with only one Race remaining, Miami’s Coach Platek threw the bonus flag. Miami’s only chance was to win the race and have Phoenix not complete the workout within 30 seconds following Miami’s completion. Instead, the Rise got out to an early lead and held on as Danny Nichols finished the race with two touch-and-go clean and jerks at 335 pounds and it was Miami who would not complete the race.
Up Next:
Miami Surge (0-1) vs LA Reign (0-1) // Tuesday, August 23 at 6:00pm ET
Phoenix Rise (1-0) vs San Francisco Fire (1-0) // Tuesday, August 23 at 6:00pm ET
